Record tape assembly and magazine therefor



April l1, 1961 w. H. P. PoULlART ETAL 2,979,244y

RECORD TAPE ASSEMBLY AND MAGAZINE THEREFOR Filed Dec. 15, 1956 4Sheets-Sheet l n ntor VME POUM/AEST l ACOBIN AttorneylllnljllllllllllllllIIHIIIIIIIIIIIII u n na "i Q u.

April 11, 1961 w. H. P. PoULlART ETAL 2,979,244

RECORD TAPE ASSEMBLY AND MAGAZINE THEREEOR Filed Dec. 13, 1956 4sheets-sheet z Inventor VV.H. I9. POULIART- I .JACOBlN BA1/Mw;

Attorney April 1l, 1961 w. H. P. POULIART ETAL 2,979,244

RECORD TAPE ASSEMBLY AND MAGAZINE THEREFOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec.13, 1956 |l|||||| IIIIII Inventor W H. l? POULIART LJACBIN ttorn e yApril l1, 1961 w. H. P. PoULlART ETAL 2,979,244

RECORD TAPE ASSEMBLY AND MAGAZINE THEREFOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec.13, 1956 Unite States Patent 'RECGRD TAPE ASSEMBLY AND MAGAZINE THEREFORWilly H. P. Pouliart and Leo Jacobin, Antwerp, Belgium, assignors toInternational Standard Electric Corpora tion, New York, NY., acorporation of Delaware Filed Dec. i3, 1956, Ser. No. 628,148 claimspriority, application Great Britain Dec. 30,1955

5 claims, (c1. 22e-11s) The invention relates to tape containers andassociated winding and control equipment for handling record tape suchas is used flor magnetic recording machines.

More particularly, the invention relates to -a magnetic record tapecontainer comprising a driving device for they said magnetic tape topermit reading and printing, a store in the form of a tlat container ofwhich the inside width is slightly greater than the width of themagnetic tape, and in which the latter circulates as an endlessloop andis contained therein in' the form of successive folds, and electricallycontrolled pneumatic control means for the magnetic tape in said store.

The principle of the above container is disclosed in the Belgian PatentNo. v518,759 While a driving capstan with which the magnetic tape maycooperate under the control of an electrically operated pneumatic clutchis disclosed in the Belgian Patent No. 517,967.

An object of the invention is to be able to increase the v recordingcapacity of such an"arrangementbyincreasing the surface of lthe endlesstape, particularly by using a greater length of tape. t

In accordance with a characteristic of theinvention, a conveyor isprovided at the bottom of the store, which conveyor returns the mass ofmagnetic tape folds from the end of thesstore, at which the tape isdeposited after its passage through the driving device, towards theother end.

In the Belgian Patent No. 523,526, a magnetic record tape containercomprising a driving device for the tape, and a store in they shape of aflat magazine containing the tape in the form of an endless loop andwith successive folds, includes a discharge of air underneath thesaidtape as itleaves, the said driving ndevice, thisv for the purpose ofensuring a tape trajectory at the output'of the driving device which issubstantially horizontal and linear. f l YAnother object of theinvention isV to improve the above arrangement particularly in the caseof a'store of greater length, due to the increased length of the endlesstape, by

prolonging said substantially horizontal and linear traje'ctory of thetape over substantially the whole length of the container and also toavoid any sticking ofthe tape on the upper part of'said store, said tapeleaving the driving device at a point along said upper part.

t ln accordance with another-characteristic of the in ventionpa furthervdischarge-of airis provided abovethe magnetic tape in the upper part ofthe store and as the ICC as mentioned above by using a a single commondriving device. Y Y

'In accordance with yet another characteristic of the invention,magnetic record tape containers of the type delned above are grouped ona'common chassis, thesaid chassis and the same containers beingprovidedwithauto `matic electrical, mechanical and airplug-in'couplings,

the said chassis further comprising along its lower part rollers whichprovide a rolling path for the insertionv of the container units, thesaid chassis comprisingfurther rollers laterally guiding the saidcontainer units towards the said couplings, and the said chassis yetcomprising on one'of its lateral sides a retractable table providedwithyet further rollers which are aligned with those provid; ing the rollingpathsat the lower side when, the s aid table is lowered into ahorizontal ,position to .permit the easy insertion of the container`units in therchassis, said table being eventually returned to itsnormal vertical po-r sition after insertion of the containers. Y l Theabove mentioned and other objects and c :harac` teristics of theinvention will be better understoodi from the following description ofan embodiment r o tf the in# vention to be read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings which represent: s

Fig. l, a vdetachable memory unit in accordance with the inventioninside elevation partially cut away; ,l i

Fig. 2, the memory unitof Fig. 1 inplan view looked at from above; t s lFig. 3, the memory unit of Fig. l in side elevation lookedrat from theright; Y Y ,il f i Fig. 4, a memory chassis in side' elevation With'fonememory unit indicated in position in dotted lines; 'j i "Fig 5, thechassis of Fig. 4 in plan view looked 'affronti'v above. l

The composite memory of which thef following is description consists ofseveral single memories formed by Vdetachable units mounted on a tiltedchassis .The word memory in this instanceis used to deline a'devicewhere information can lbe fed andremovedat Aafl'a'ter date'as inthesubject invention. Each detachable unit constitutes a1memory in 'whichsignals may be registered on a magnetic tape 'and"from' which thesignals may be extracted at any desired time Thetape which is endless',is contained ina magazine which is a vertical rectangular box havingawidthslightly larger than the width of ther-tape and in whiclrthe'`tape forms a'large number of loop'sunformly distributed. lt

the high density of recording of magneticsignals on the,

reading (orwriting) of signals. This Vmovement isgef fected byv acapstanv consisting'of'a continuously rotating tape leaves the drivingdevice, the `direction of said further' discharge of air beingsubstantially horizontal Vand havin'gfor result the' creation of adepression which, in

rcooperation with the air pressure 'existing underneath the magnetictape, projects the latter from the output of the driving device locatedat one endof the'storey towards the otherend of the-store, while on theother hand it preventsl stickingjof the magnetic tape on the upper partof'th'e'store, :f

- Yetfanother object of the invention is to furtherinin themaga'zineQandthisisdone bythe following vmeansi (1 Return of- -the bundle of tapeloops in the maga# zine towards the capstan'by means of a transportband-1in Vthe base ofthe magazine.- This bandis fed-in Isuclila` tmannerthat the vadvancement imparted tothe bundlefo'f.

v according to theiquanf icreasewthe 'capacity' of l'recording -ofsucharrangements pulley anda Xed segment partially conforming to theshape of the pul1ey. The advancement and stopping of the tape occurs bya pneumatic clutch onthe pulley or on the'rtixed segment. The reading(or writing)Y of a signal is effected by'a movement of magnetic headsdelimiting-parallel tracks on the-tape."

The capstan guides the tape into the'magazine and withdraws it.- Inyorder that this may be done'without either distorting the signals orbreaking the tape,` itis necessary that the-latter should be distributedregularly tape lis 'automatically regulated tity'of'tape moved bythecapstan.y

(2) Guiding andasmoothing` of the tape at entrance and exit of theeapstan by a eurent of air.

't The detachable `units are mounted on a chassisfwhere pluralitythereof but with i gerannt they are arranged on horizontal guides. To beplaced iposition the units are placed on'a` balancing extension oftheguide, and pushed into place. Finally, connection is made by mechanical,electrical and pneumatic means with the chassis.

For this purpose the chassis is provided with rotating elements for thetransmission of movement, with a pneumatic system with valves forpneumatic control, and with a set of wires for the transmission ofsignals on an electric circuit.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the tape 1 which is made endless by sticking theends together (as will be explained later) is placed in a narrow box 2(called a magazine) in which it takes up most of the volume. As shown,it forms a pile of substantially parallel loops resting one on theother. The front side of this box consists of a sliding window 3, topermit the arrangement and the control of the sensitised tape. The boxis provided with carrying handles 4 and 5 and its shape is so arrangedas to permit its introduction on to the chassis guides.

The tape 1 traverses the recording (reading) and advancing mechanism,which consists of a continuously rotating pulley 6 effecting theadvancement of the tape, a detachable segment 7 effecting the stoppingof the tape, a multiple magnetic head 8 effecting the recording orreading of the tape, a photo-electric cell 78 associated with a sourceof light 79, a mouthpiece 9 discharging a current of air holding thetape permanently against the magnetic head, a mouthpiece 10 discharginga current of air as shown for smoothing the tape at the entrance of themechanism, a mouthpiece 11 discharging a current of air for deecting thetape Yas it leaves the mechanism.

The pulley 6 is in continuous rotation in the direction of the arrow,being integral with a second pulley 12, which receives its movement fromthe rotating elements of the chassis as explained later. The tapefollows part offthe contour of the pulley 6 and is taken up by orejected from the pulley by pneumatic action under the control of apneumatic valve (not shown) advancing or stopping the tape. For thispurpose the pulley 6 is formed by a ring 13 provided with perforationsthrough which air is passed in either direction by compression orsuction and directed by the fixed mouthpiece 14 towards the tape. Thismouthpiece 14 is connected to the penumatic valve by means of thepneumatic plug 15.

The operation of the pulley 6 is completed by the action of a xed butdetachable segment 7 of which the lower face which partiallysurroundsthe rotating pulley isr provided with perforations which pass the airunder compression or suction as controlled by the pneumatic valve torepel or attract the tape.

The segment is conected to the valve by means of the pneumatic plug 16.

When the tape is withdrawn or pushedback by the pulley 6, these actionsare reinforced by repulsion or attraction caused by the segment 7. Bythese combined actions, and as described in the above mentioned BelgianPatent No. 517,967, rapid starting and stopping is obtained, e.g. abouttwo milliseconds for a tape speed of four metres per second.-

The multiple magnetic head 8 is a unit (not detailed) consisting ofseveral magnetic heads, traversing the parallel tracks on the tape andwhich transmit signals when the tape moves. YThe photoelectric readercomprising the cell 7S, and the light source 79 is arranged in the pathl of the magnetic tape, for example underneath the magnetic reading andwriting heads, and its purpose is to provide to the electrical circuitsa signal during the passage of a mark, constituted for example by asmall surface where the magnetic tape has been made transparent, justbefore the splice of the two ends of the tape; The purpose of thissignal may' be to continue driving the magnetic tape, but to. interruptthe writing or reading operations during a time corresponding tozthepassage of the said splice in the driving mechanism. Another object maybe to mark the separation between the end and the beginning of a cycleof informations magnetically inscribed on the tape.

The head and the photocell are connected to terminals of the plug 17which makes contact with the circuit.

The blown air emanating from mouthpiece 9 holds the tape permanentlyagainst the multiple head S, to permit obtaining satisfactory signals.

Blown air emanating from another mouthpiece 10 smooths the tape toprevent it from obstructing the entrance to the mechanism by tanglingthe loops.

Blown air emanating from a further mouthpiece 11 deviates the tape atthe exit of the mechanism and directs it towards the opposite end of themagazine. This action is reinforced by the depression created around itby the ow of air projected by the mouthpiece 18. This last airllow hasalso for purpose to prevent the tape from sticking against the upperpart of the container.

A small partition 25 has been added under the airflow provided by themouthpiece 11, on the one hand to avoid that the folds of tape locatedin the container should be sucked by the depression occurring aroundthis airstream, and on the other hand to reinforce the projection of airtowards the other end of the container.

The mouthpieces 9, 10, 11 and 18 are connected to a source of compressedair by means of the pneumatic plug 19.

The sensitised tape is fed at the opposite end of the magazine to areading mechanism by a transport band 20 which is wound on the pulleys21 and 22, the pulley 21 being integral with a pulley 23 which receivesits movement from rotating elements of the chassis as explained later.

The linear speed of this conveying belt may be substantially equal tothe length of the container divided by the time necessary for thepassage of the complete length of the endless tape on the capstan whenthe latter continuously drives the tape.

Although the transport band 20 advances at a constant speed, the bundleof sensitised tape progresses at the Speed of its intermittent passagethrough the readingand recording mechanism, which prevents pulling orpiling up of the tape. For this purpose the carrying band 1s madesmooth, permitting the sensitised tape to slide when it traverses themechanism at a reduced speed. In addition the carrying band is extendedby a fixed surface or plane 24 contributing to the completeimmobilization of the bundle of sensitised tape when the latter isstopped in the reading mechanism.

Suitable positioning of the bundle of sensitised tape is obtained by thechoice of speed of the carrying band as indicated above and by anempirical determination of the length of the fixed `surface 24, whichmust be such that a certain quantity of magnetic tape can be pushed onthislplane 24 by the mass of tape which is still on the belt 20, untilthe first folds of the magnetic tape have arrived against the front sideof the container, and until at this moment the mass of tape located onthe plane 24 is able to substantially stop the remaining part of thetape located on the belt 20, the latter then sliding underneath the`mass of magnetic tape.

The chassis for four detachable elements shown in Figs. 4 and 5,consists of. a base frame 26 on which are mounted the frames 27, 28 andwhich are connected by cross-pieces 29 and 30. The base` 26 is providedwith three shafts 31, 32, and 33 on which the wheels such as v34, 35pivot freely, separated by the cross-pieces such as 36, 37. The wheelsare arranged so as to form rolling `tracks for thereception of thedetachable units. To guide the units in a vertical plane, supplementarywheels such as 3S, 39 have been provided, mounted on the edge 40 of amounting plate 41, fixed to the frames 27 and 28.

To simplify the insertion and extraction of the units, aA platform 42hasbeen provided with wheels such as place as follows:

43,- 44 the platform 42 pivoting about the axis of shaft 31. Normallythe platform is kept in a vertical position by a holding pawl 45. Onthe' insertion or extraction of a unit the platform is pivoted and heldin the base extension 26 by means of a tie-bar 46. The wheels such as43, 44 are then aligned with the wheels of the lchassis 26, and form afirm seating for the detachable units, which prevents them from movingand damaging the apparatus. A detachable unit partly inserted on thechassis is shown dotted in the figure.

A detachable unit having slid into position, it finally abuts against astop of compressible material 47 and is locked by a holding pawl 48which is controlled by the spring 49.

Finally connection is made by electric, pneumatic and mechanical means.For this purpose the electric plug 17 and the multiple pneumatic plug15, 16, 19 of the detachable unit are inserted respectively into theelectric socket 50, and the multiple pneumatic socket 51, 52, 53 mountedon the mounting plate 41. .The electric socket 50 leads to the electriccircuit, while the multiple pneumatic socket 51, 52, 53 is connected tothe pneumatic valve 54 and to the source of compressed air 55. The otherdetachable units are connected to the chassis in the same manner.

To provide power to the detachable units the chassis 2.6 carries shafts56 and 57 which are continuously rotated and are equipped with pulleys58, 59 connected i to these units. On the insertion of the units intothe chassis, pulleys such as 58 are automatically coupled to pulleyssuch as 12, by the intervention of friction wheels such as 60. Thelatter are floatably mounted onjoints 62 and 63 and are wedged betweenthe pulleys 12 and 58 partly under the influence of springs such as 66and partly under the influence of the adhesion of the floating surfaces.When the units are extracted from the chassis, the friction wheels suchas 60 disengage from the pulleys such as 12 and springs such as 66support levers .such as 63 in a rest position against the stops such as68.

Concerning the pulley 23, it is driven by the pulley 61 in a manneranalogous to that for 12 and 60, with this distinction that the pulley61 cornes into contact. with the pulley 23 only when the solenoid 74(schematically represented) is energised. When a suitable current is.sent through the solenoid 74, its plunger 77 is drawn downwards againstthe action of the restoring spring 75,

and lowers the right-hand end of the lever 65 which pivots around itsfixed axle 76. The left-hand end of this lever comes up, and as it bearsthe lever 64 which itself supports the pulley 61, the latter is thenpressed against the pulleysv 23 and 59. When the current in the solenoid74 is suppressed, thespring 75 lowers the lefthand end of the lever 65which then abuts against the fixed member 69, and the pulley 23 is nolonger driven' by the pulley 61.

The purpose of this clutch arrangement is to drive the conveying beltonly when the memory unit concerned is selected by the electricalcircuits for' the purpose of inscribing or reading information, wherebyan unnecessary and objectionable friction of the belt 20 on the magnetictape is avoided during the remaining periods.

The loading of the magazine, which may be performed on a chassis keptspecially for this purpose, may take The 'power is cut oif 60-and 61 andthe air is cut olf by closing taps placed on the air supply pipes; theright to the extent that the partition is freed and the movable segment7 can be removed. which is wound on a spool (not shown) is partiallyunwound so as to be passed over the pulley 6 andinserted by disengagingthe'friction Wheels The window is then slid to into the magazine throughVthe kslot next to the reading head` and fastened by a tension screw80..

The movable segment 7 and the window 3V are then 6 closed and the unitis fed with air by opening the air sup?- ply taps, and with power byengaging the friction wheels 60 and 61. The sensitised'tape is thenautomatically wound in the magazine. The quantity of tape on the spoolmay be underthe 'control of an electric contact, the sensitised tape maythen Abe automatically stopped when the spool is empty by-the operationof the pneumatic v alve controlling'the advancement.I Then the tape iscut and the` screw is unfastened, which permits sticking the two endstogether by welding. The unitis then ready for use.

While the principles of the invention have been de scribed above inconnection with specic apparatus, it is to be clearly understood thatthis description is made only by way of example and not as a limitationon the scope of the invention.

We claim:

l. Av record tape assembly for continuous tape comprising a printing andreading head, said assembly having a width slightly greater than thewidth of said tape, means at the top of said assembly for moving saidtape within said assembly, means for directing an air jet against saidtape leaving said moving means so as to form successive folds of saidtape, a conveyor disposed at the bottom `of said assembly, means fordriving said conveyor, said conveyor having a conveying surfacesubstantially parallel to the bottom of said assembly, said conveyingsurface adapted to receive a portion of said tape and to convey it in adirection opposite to the movement of the air from said jet whereby saidtape is formed in successive-folds above said conveyor without jammingat either end of said assembly.

2. A record tape assembly as defined in claim l further l comprising afixed flat member parallel to the upper part of the conveyor and spaceda small distance` above said conveyor, and extending over a certainlength from that end of the assembly where the transportation of thetape ends, the said length being predetermined sothat a certain amountof tape can be pushed on the said member bythe following mass of tapevuntil the iirst folds have arrived Vat said end, whereupon the amount oftape l0- cated on said member is suicient to substantially stop theremaining part of the tape despite the continuous movement of theconveyor which then slides underneath the mass of said tape. f

3. A record tape assembly as defined in claim 1 further comprising apartition underneath said air jet directing means to prevent the tape'in the container from being sucked under the said air jet whereby saidpartition aids in directing said air jet away from said moving means.`

4. Arecord tape assembly as delined in claim 3 further comprising meansfor directing an air jet onto said tape before it enters the movingmeans in order to substantially flatten the trajectory of the tapebefore its entry into said moving means.

5.VV A record tape assembly and magazine therefor for Y assemblies ofcontinuous record tape comprising a chassis,

a plurality of tape` assemblies, each of said assemblies having a widthslightly greater than the width of said tape, "f

means at the top of .each of said assemblies fory moving means to supplypower for said moving, driving, and jet directing means, said chassishaving means for guiding each of said assemblies towards said plug incouplings, a platform pivotally connected-to.l said chassis having a Yretracted and a normal position, said platform having guiding meanswhich arealigned with said guiding means f ofsaid chassis whensaid'platform is in a retracted posi,

tion' whereby said assembly when ins'ertedin said chassiscooperatesfirst withthe guiding means of'said platform ,.7 and then with theguiding means of said chassis, and said 2,180,601 Mitchell et al Nov.21, 1939 platform adapted to pivot in its normal position after said2,377,896 Metzner June 12, 1945 assembly is inserted into said chassis.2,419,012 Dodegge Apr. 15, 1947 2,542,506 Gibson Feb. 20, 1951References Cited in the le of this patent 5 2,808,259 Wengel Oct, 1,1957 2,867,435 Gleason Jan. 6, 1959 UNITED STATES PATENTS 284,323 PalmerSept.4,18ss FOREIGN PATENTS 1,873,057 smith Aug. 23, 1932 523,526Belgium s Apr. 15, 1954

